Case Studies

Case Study 1
Challenge: Unclear Roles and Inconsistent Performance

A growing RIA firm with $2.5 million in annual revenue and 7 employees was facing significant challenges in clearly defining roles, setting expectations, and establishing an effective performance evaluation framework. As the firm expanded, the leadership team struggled to communicate how employees would be evaluated and how incentive compensation would be tied to performance.

This lack of clarity led to:

Confusion about individual roles and responsibilities.

Misalignment between employees’ daily work and the firm’s strategic goals.

Inconsistent feedback and difficulty in measuring individual performance.

Frustration with the performance review process, as employees weren’t sure how to succeed or what was expected of them.

Key components of the solution included:

1. Clear Role Definitions
We worked with leadership to define each employee’s role in greater detail. This helped ensure that everyone understood their specific responsibilities, scope of work, and the key contributions they needed to make toward the firm’s growth.

2. Custom Performance Management Scorecards including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
We designed customized performance management scorecards for the firm. These scorecards were tailored to each employee's specific role, and linked to both individual and team-wide goals, as well as the firm’s broader strategic objectives. We identified KPIs that aligned with the firm's strategic objectives. These metrics were tracked and reviewed regularly to ensure employees were clear on how their performance would be measured.

3. 360-Degree Feedback and Self-Assessment
To foster a culture of continuous improvement, we implemented a 360-degree feedback process, allowing employees to receive input not only from their managers but also from peers. Additionally, employees completed self-assessments as part of the performance review cycle to reflect on their achievements and areas for growth.

4. Incentive Compensation Tied to Performance

We designed a performance-based incentive compensation structure that was linked to both individual and team performance metrics. This incentivized employees to align their efforts with the firm’s goals, while also motivating them to take ownership of their personal development.

5. Ongoing Communication and Adjustments
A key part of the process was setting up quarterly reviews and regular feedback loops, so employees were always aware of how they were performing and where they could improve. Leadership also had a clear structure for providing constructive feedback and making adjustments to goals when necessary.

Our Results

Improved clarity around roles: Employees now had a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and how their work contributed to the firm’s success.

More focused performance reviews: Regular performance reviews, linked to specific goals and metrics, made evaluations more meaningful and actionable.

Increased accountability: Employees took greater ownership of their performance, knowing exactly what was expected of them and how they would be evaluated.

Stronger alignment with business goals: The performance management process became a tool for aligning individual efforts with the company’s strategic vision, leading to improved productivity and growth.

Enhanced motivation: The performance-based incentive compensation plan resulted in higher motivation and a noticeable increase in employee engagement and retention.

Case Study 2
Challenge: Leadership Transition and Organizational Renewal

A mid-sized RIA with $10 million in annual revenue and 26 employees was facing a significant leadership transition after the founder’s retirement. An internal successor was appointed as the new CEO, but the firm was struggling with aligning the leadership team, refreshing the company’s mission, vision, and values, and creating a clear strategic roadmap for the next decade.

The key challenges included:

Leadership confidence: The new CEO, although skilled in many areas, lacked confidence in leading the firm through this major change.

Outdated mission, vision, and values: The company’s mission and values, established over 30 years ago, were no longer aligned with the firm’s evolving culture and strategic direction.

Communication and change management: The leadership team and employees needed a structured approach to communicate the vision and navigate the changes ahead.

Strategic planning: The firm needed a clear, actionable roadmap for the next 10 years, including hiring plans, organizational structure, and specific action steps.

Key components of the solution included:

1. Refreshing Mission, Vision, and Values
We facilitated a series of workshops with the new CEO and key leadership team members to refresh the firm’s mission, vision, and values. The original values, created 30 years ago, were still important but needed to be updated to reflect the firm’s evolving culture and goals for the future. The refreshed mission and vision provided the leadership team with a clear, unified direction for the firm’s next phase of growth.

2. Building CEO Leadership Confidence
Through targeted leadership coaching and mentorship, we helped the new CEO gain the confidence to step into his new role as leader of the firm. We worked on enhancing his decision-making skills, communication strategies, and his ability to inspire the leadership team and employees to embrace the changes ahead.

3. Developing a Communication and Change Management Plan Using the ADKAR model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement), we
helped the CEO develop a comprehensive communication and change management
plan. This plan addressed:

Awareness: Clearly articulating the reasons for change, including the leadership transition and strategic vision.

Desire: Creating a sense of urgency and excitement among the leadership team and employees.

Knowledge: Providing employees with the tools and knowledge they needed to adapt to new systems and processes.

Ability: Ensuring the leadership team had the skills and resources to implement the changes successfully.

Reinforcement: Establishing regular checkpoints and feedback loops to reinforce the changes and celebrate milestones.

4. Strategic Roadmap for the Next 10 Years
We worked with the CEO and leadership team to create a strategic roadmap for the next 10 years. This roadmap included:

Long-term growth objectives.

Key investments in technology, talent, and infrastructure

Clear priorities for expanding services and scaling the firm.

5. Hiring Plan and Future State Organizational Chart
To support the firm’s growth, we helped the CEO develop a hiring plan and a future- state organizational chart. This detailed the roles and capabilities needed over the next few years to scale the firm efficiently while maintaining its culture. We identified key leadership roles and specialist positions that would be critical to the firm’s success.

6. Tactical Action Steps Using the RAPID Model
In order to break down the strategic vision into tactical action steps, we used the RAPID model (Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input, Decide) to assign clear roles and responsibilities for each initiative. The model helped:

Clarify decision-making: Who would be responsible for recommending, agreeing, performing, and deciding on key actions.
Identify key milestones: We set specific, measurable milestones for the first 12 months.
Define success measures: We established KPIs and success criteria to track the firm’s progress toward its goals.
Ensure accountability: Everyone on the leadership team knew their responsibilities, timelines, and expectations.

Our Results

Stronger leadership confidence: His ability to communicate clearly and inspire the team was significantly strengthened. The new CEO gained confidence in his ability to lead, make decisions, and drive change.

Clearer direction: The refreshed mission, vision, and values aligned the leadership team and employees around a shared sense of purpose and goals for the future.

Effective communication: The communication and change management plan, based on the ADKAR model, ensured a smooth transition with minimal resistance from employees.

Actionable roadmap: The CEO and leadership team had a clear 10-year roadmap for growth, including tactical steps for the next 12 months, ensuring that the firm remained focused on its long-term vision while executing short-term initiatives.

Talent strategy: The hiring plan and future-state organizational chart helped the leadership team identify critical roles and begin hiring for future growth.

Accountability and progress: The RAPID model allowed the leadership team to implement the plan with clear accountability and set measurable success indicators, ensuring that they remained on track to meet their goals.

These case studies are based on past experiences working with RIA clients at former firms and demonstrate the methodologies and results that have been achieved in similar contexts. They are intended to illustrate the type of work we would apply to your organization and the potential outcomes you could expect.